Florida Court of Appeals Affirms Order Blocking Enforcement of Broward County Gun Control Ordinances

The Florida Legislature passed the Joe Carlucci Uniform Firearms Act,
which states that the legislature “hereby declares that it is occupying the
whole field of regulation of firearms and ammunition.” The legislature
further stated any “existing ordinances, rules, or regulations are hereby
declared null and void.” Finally, the legislature stated in the statute that
it was its policy and intent “to prohibit the enactment of any future
ordinances or regulations relating to firearms, ammunition, or
components thereof………

We find that Broward County may not regulate indirectly what it cannot
regulate directly. The Broward County ordinances clearly regulate guns.
Under generally accepted definitions of guns, it is commonly understood
that guns are firearms and firearms are guns. Further, the plain language
of the portion of the ordinances regulating guns, on one hand, and the
“provided that” clause attempting to exempt Chapter 790, Florida
Statutes, on the other hand, do not give clear guidance to those enforcing
these ordinances, nor to the citizenry expected to comply with these
ordinances. Thus, we affirm the trial court’s ruling that found the
ordinances were firearm regulations and thus statutorily preempted.”